Latest / Karl and Crew / Following Core Truths not Trends with Colin Smith and Living in Authentic Joy with Chris Coursey

Transcript

Following Core Truths not Trends with Colin Smith and Living in Authentic Joy with Chris Coursey · Karl and Crew

• 0:01
  S1: Coming to you live in studio. It's Carl and crew
• 0:05
  S1: on Moody Radio.
• 0:07
  S2: You know, when you think core truth, it could be
• 0:10
  S2: a little bit. How how do I say this? Those
• 0:15
  S2: could become kind of theological anchors rather than truth that
• 0:19
  S2: sets us free. You know what I mean? You could
• 0:22
  S2: get a set of core truths and it's. And then
• 0:25
  S2: the question is, so what?
• 0:27
  S3: So it could easily just become like a set of
• 0:31
  S3: things that I believe to be true without any sort
• 0:33
  S3: of impact.
• 0:34
  S2: Yeah. Yeah. As simple as that. It could get there. Um,
• 0:39
  S2: so I've been wrestling with this a little bit. And
• 0:42
  S2: so I thought of my dog. I thought of my
• 0:45
  S2: dog blaze. Yay. And let me just tell you a
• 0:47
  S2: quick little story about my dog blaze. I picked him
• 0:50
  S2: up at eight weeks old in Alaska. Put him under
• 0:54
  S2: the seat in front of me on Alaska Airlines, flew
• 0:58
  S2: back down to Chicago and I pulled them out of
• 1:02
  S2: the little soft side crate while we were flying a
• 1:06
  S2: couple of times. Just held them in my arms. Caught
• 1:08
  S2: a couple of winks and he's winking in my arms.
• 1:11
  S2: Oh yeah. Isn't that great? Oh, it's just so much fun.
• 1:15
  S2: So this guy grows up and now he's just a
• 1:17
  S2: year and a few days old. It's amazing how quickly
• 1:19
  S2: time flies by, isn't it? Wow. And it's really interesting
• 1:26
  S2: because if you think about the Iditarod Trail Sled dog race,
• 1:32
  S2: it's an 1100 mile dog sled race from Anchorage to know.
• 1:36
  S2: And it's a great race. They're doing it much quicker
• 1:39
  S2: than what I did it way back in the day.
• 1:41
  S2: Mine was a little over 21 days and that was
• 1:43
  S2: a long haul. No shower, no nothing. Just going 21 days.
• 1:47
  S2: That's a long, long way. Um, and then the question is,
• 1:54
  S2: what are some of the core truths that create a
• 2:00
  S2: great dog team. And I've often said if there are
• 2:05
  S2: like 1100 variables. Getting a dog team from Anchorage to Nome,
• 2:11
  S2: and there probably are that many from temperature to feeding
• 2:14
  S2: to to, uh, time to weather, you peddle the sled
• 2:20
  S2: or run beside it or what kind of harnesses you
• 2:23
  S2: use and how long are the tug lines and what,
• 2:26
  S2: what are they made out of? Um, what do you do?
• 2:29
  S2: You go in a storm. Do you not go in
• 2:31
  S2: a storm? Do you try to outrun a storm? Do
• 2:34
  S2: you wait for it to. I mean, there's so many variables, right?
• 2:38
  S2: I mean, there are so many, but there are some
• 2:42
  S2: core truths about sled dogs that if you're going to
• 2:48
  S2: run the Iditarod. So this is a tip for you.
• 2:50
  S2: If you ever dream of that might be one guy
• 2:53
  S2: out there who's thought of it, uh, that are really important.
• 2:57
  S2: And it was just last night I was at this
• 2:59
  S2: big old dog park and letting blaze just run free.
• 3:03
  S2: And there must have been there must have been 25
• 3:06
  S2: dogs in this dog park. And I mean, they were everywhere.
• 3:11
  S2: And blaze, he's a runner. I mean, he can just
• 3:15
  S2: flat fly. It's it's the coolest thing to watch him run.
• 3:20
  S2: And I'm talking with some people that have their dogs
• 3:24
  S2: there and somebody's got a Dalmatian. Uh, another one's got
• 3:28
  S2: a Doberman. And then all these mixed breeds, another a
• 3:33
  S2: Siberian husky was there and somebody said, he looks, he
• 3:38
  S2: looks really different than a Siberian husky. And he does.
• 3:42
  S2: I had a guy stop me on the street the
• 3:44
  S2: other day and said, does that thing have wolf or
• 3:47
  S2: coyote in him? So I was wondering forever why people,
• 3:51
  S2: when I'm walking down the sidewalk, give me a wide
• 3:54
  S2: berth with this dog. And I'm realizing, oh, he kind
• 3:57
  S2: of resembles like, maybe I'm walking a wolf through the
• 4:00
  S2: neighborhood or a coyote.
• 4:02
  S4: Those long legs.
• 4:03
  S2: Yeah, he's got super long legs. And you. I think
• 4:07
  S2: most people would think, man, he might. He doesn't look
• 4:10
  S2: like an Iditarod dog because their image of sled dogs
• 4:13
  S2: is what you see on a big screen.
• 4:15
  S3: Yeah. I the Siberian Husky, like, with the blue eyes.
• 4:19
  S4: That's what I was thinking.
• 4:19
  S3: That's that's what I thought all huskies looked like. So
• 4:22
  S3: that was yeah. I was one of those that.
• 4:25
  S2: So that's no knock on that. But here's here's what's interesting.
• 4:30
  S2: So somebody asked me a question. Very insightful question. Well,
• 4:33
  S2: what makes a good sled dog. And that's a great question.
• 4:38
  S2: Now it's different for sprint races versus long distance races.
• 4:42
  S2: But I'll tell you what makes a great Iditarod dog.
• 4:45
  S2: So here's like core truths. And it's true of blaze
• 4:50
  S2: and his litter mates. So this is this litter that
• 4:54
  S2: I picked out blades from. He's the result of 19
• 4:58
  S2: dog generations of breeding with my buddy Mitch Seavey. 19
• 5:02
  S2: generations of breeding. So what has he bred to. And
• 5:07
  S2: what has he bred away from? There's three important things.
• 5:11
  S2: Number one, these dogs have to have good strong feet genetically.
• 5:15
  S2: So their pads have to be strong. Because if they've
• 5:18
  S2: got shallow pads on their feet, they get easily lacerated
• 5:23
  S2: by ice and snow, or they've got to have not
• 5:27
  S2: too much hair that grows between their pads because that
• 5:30
  S2: hair can create snowballs. You see what I'm saying? So
• 5:33
  S2: there's little things like that. Another interesting thing, and I
• 5:37
  S2: find this fascinating. I hope everyone else does. Or just
• 5:40
  S2: me here. We're blabbing away. You've got to, you've got
• 5:44
  S2: to have a breed of dog that under stress and
• 5:48
  S2: under endurance, doesn't lose their appetite. They actually gain appetite.
• 5:54
  S2: There's a lot of really good athletic dogs that put
• 5:57
  S2: under stress, lose their appetite. Well, the minute a dog
• 6:00
  S2: loses their appetite, they don't get the kind of protein
• 6:03
  S2: and nourishment that they need. And now you have to
• 6:05
  S2: drop the dog so they can be the greatest athlete
• 6:07
  S2: in the world. But when they get under stress, if
• 6:10
  S2: they stop eating, that ain't going to work. And then
• 6:13
  S2: the other thing that's characteristic of Blaze's Littermates is that
• 6:18
  S2: all the fighters have been bred out of this bloodline.
• 6:23
  S2: So if there were any that were fighters, they never
• 6:26
  S2: bred to those dogs. So over 19 generations, blaze and
• 6:31
  S2: his littermates aren't inclined to fight. They get under stress
• 6:36
  S2: and they eat. They don't lose their appetite and they've
• 6:39
  S2: got good feet, good, good, strong pads, along with the
• 6:43
  S2: fact they're long legged, they're strong. They've just got a
• 6:48
  S2: smooth gait. I guess everyone knows what a gait is.
• 6:52
  S2: And that's again. Well, when you walk, you have a gate.
• 6:55
  S2: You have a walking gate. So when they trot, they
• 6:57
  S2: have to have a good gait. These are core truths
• 7:01
  S2: that if you don't get those right, you can have
• 7:04
  S2: the best harnesses you can have the best techs is
• 7:08
  S2: what it's called, that runner plastic that you put on
• 7:11
  S2: your sled. You can have a super strong musher who
• 7:15
  S2: can run up hills every time. He can do what's
• 7:19
  S2: called poling. Push with a ski pole when you're going
• 7:23
  S2: down the trail. But core truth is, you've got to
• 7:28
  S2: have a dog with those three elements that's pulling the sled,
• 7:32
  S2: or you're not going to get there in a timely manner.
• 7:35
  S2: Isn't that kind of cool?
• 7:36
  S3: It's fascinating. If you would have given me ten guesses
• 7:40
  S3: on what would be the most important things, I would
• 7:43
  S3: not have landed on those three. I wouldn't. I think
• 7:45
  S3: those are surprising to people.
• 7:47
  S2: Isn't that kind of fun? Yeah. To talk about.
• 7:49
  S3: The feet, the the lack of fighting, the the stress.
• 7:52
  S3: I would have thought gate for sure.
• 7:54
  S2: You would have thought gate.
• 7:55
  S3: That there like a certain level of muscularity. Yes. The
• 7:59
  S3: kind of the more obvious things like if you like
• 8:01
  S3: you would if a for human runners, I mean Usain Bolt,
• 8:05
  S3: he's obviously very, very fast. He's worked very hard. But
• 8:08
  S3: you look at his frame and you go, okay, well,
• 8:11
  S3: he's six foot four. Yeah. He's got long legs. He's
• 8:16
  S3: got good muscularity.
• 8:17
  S2: Yes.
• 8:18
  S3: So there's some things naturally that are going to make
• 8:21
  S3: him um, have a be a stronger runner out of
• 8:24
  S3: the gate than somebody who's five four.
• 8:28
  S2: Right.
• 8:28
  S3: You know so interesting.
• 8:30
  S2: Yeah. It's it's fascinating stuff. And how this relates to
• 8:34
  S2: core truths spiritually is that often times we major on,
• 8:42
  S2: I don't want to call them minors. Let me, let
• 8:45
  S2: me call them that. We major on minors. We actually
• 8:48
  S2: find ourselves divided over things that shouldn't divide us. And
• 8:54
  S2: so when we're talking core truths, we're getting down to
• 8:57
  S2: the nitty gritty of what do we need as disciples
• 9:01
  S2: of Christ to be anchored in? So that we're growing
• 9:04
  S2: strong in him. Isn't that fun?
• 9:06
  S3: Yeah. That's a it's a good discussion.
• 9:08
  S2: Yeah. It's a and, and to put it in the
• 9:10
  S2: real metaphor, how, what, what core truths are anchoring us
• 9:14
  S2: so that we run in such a way as to
• 9:15
  S2: win the prize. Isn't that great? Yeah. Oh, man. See,
• 9:19
  S2: blaze worked again for us there, guys. Pretty cool stuff.
• 9:23
  S2: So that's what we're talking about today is these core truths.
• 9:28
  S2: And coming up here straight ahead, we're going to have
• 9:31
  S2: Colin Smith duck in here. And we're just going to
• 9:34
  S2: we're going to come out of the shoot hot here.
• 9:35
  S2: What are those core truths that are going to enable
• 9:40
  S2: us to not just know stuff, right. Allie.
• 9:42
  S3: Right. Not just have head knowledge.
• 9:44
  S2: But really move us forward in this race of faith.
• 9:50
  S2: Colin Smith straight ahead.
• 9:52
  S1: It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
• 9:55
  S2: Courtrooms are critical and I'm going to use a term
• 9:59
  S2: here majoring on minors. And I want to be careful
• 10:02
  S2: here because there's when you look at God's word and
• 10:04
  S2: you look at truths, there's nothing truly minor. But there
• 10:08
  S2: are first principles. There's core things that come first. And
• 10:11
  S2: much like an Iditarod sled dog, my husky pup who's
• 10:14
  S2: now a little over a year, 19 generations of breeding
• 10:19
  S2: that have bred out any fighters among that litter. Which
• 10:23
  S2: is fascinating, isn't it? And that was bred out early
• 10:27
  S2: on in this 19 generations of breeding. They have good
• 10:30
  S2: feet that can walk the long haul, and they have
• 10:33
  S2: a good appetite even when they're under stress. That's what
• 10:36
  S2: those are, the core things that make a great sled
• 10:39
  S2: dog that can run the race of the Iditarod. What
• 10:44
  S2: we're called to run this race in such a way
• 10:47
  S2: that we may win the prize. And there needs to
• 10:50
  S2: be some core truths that we get anchored in. Now,
• 10:54
  S2: I'm not calling us dogs here, Colin Smith, but it's
• 10:58
  S2: it's a truism of life, isn't it, that we sometimes
• 11:01
  S2: in the spiritual life, focus on things that are lesser
• 11:04
  S2: than not that they're not important. But we need to
• 11:08
  S2: come back to these core truths, don't we? Colin.
• 11:10
  S5: That's absolutely right. And, um, the timeless truths as well.
• 11:16
  S5: It strikes me that one of the things that is
• 11:18
  S5: also a snare to us is that we just go
• 11:20
  S5: after the latest thing. We become faddish Christians and we
• 11:24
  S5: follow a fad. And you know that if you're following
• 11:27
  S5: the latest thing for sure, you're not following the main
• 11:31
  S5: thing because the main things have been plain from the
• 11:33
  S5: beginning and have come down to us from the apostles,
• 11:36
  S5: from the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And so I love
• 11:39
  S5: the fact that you're focusing on the things that matter most.
• 11:42
  S5: They're never going to change and they're never going to fail.
• 11:44
  S4: Amen.
• 11:44
  S3: Pastor Colin Smith with us this morning, founder and teacher
• 11:47
  S3: of the longtime daily radio program Open the Bible. You
• 11:50
  S3: hear weekdays mornings right here on Moody Radio. Ephesians two
• 11:53
  S3: eight through nine on your heart this morning. For by
• 11:56
  S3: grace you have been saved through faith. And this is
• 11:59
  S3: not your own doing. It is the gift of God,
• 12:01
  S3: not a result of works, so that no 1st May boast.
• 12:05
  S3: Did you wake up on this fine morning thinking about
• 12:08
  S3: that scripture passage?
• 12:11
  S5: Well, I think, you know, that is a core truth
• 12:14
  S5: of core truths. I mean, it seems to me that
• 12:17
  S5: a lot of people get the idea that to live
• 12:21
  S5: the Christian life is basically to make the best effort
• 12:24
  S5: you can to do what God tells you to do.
• 12:27
  S5: And that inevitably ends up in failure, because we simply
• 12:31
  S5: don't have within ourselves the capacity to do everything that
• 12:35
  S5: God commands. And Ephesians two and verses eight and nine
• 12:38
  S5: is such a wonderful scripture because it tells us that
• 12:41
  S5: God actually gives us what we do not have. And
• 12:46
  S5: one way that I like to say that is that
• 12:48
  S5: God gives what he commands. So whenever I look in
• 12:52
  S5: the Scripture at what God is calling me to do,
• 12:55
  S5: what I need to take in is that what he commands,
• 12:58
  S5: he also promises and that he makes possible what otherwise
• 13:03
  S5: would be impossible for me by his grace. That's what
• 13:06
  S5: it's saying. By grace you're saved and it comes to
• 13:09
  S5: you through faith. And it is a gift. It's not
• 13:12
  S5: something that you've earned yourself. It's not something that's come
• 13:15
  S5: out of your own capacity. That, to me, is what
• 13:18
  S5: makes the Christian life possible, and what makes it entirely
• 13:21
  S5: different from every other attempt at self-improvement.
• 13:25
  S2: Yeah, it's so good. Colin Smith, our guest right now,
• 13:27
  S2: let's define the core truth of faith. Give us a
• 13:33
  S2: working definition, and spend some time explaining that.
• 13:36
  S5: We can think of faith as believing God in what
• 13:42
  S5: he has promised and trusting him in what he has
• 13:47
  S5: not yet revealed. I mean, there are these two spheres
• 13:50
  S5: of life, aren't there? There are things that God has revealed,
• 13:54
  S5: and there are things that God has kept secret, and
• 13:58
  S5: things that God has revealed are the core truths that
• 14:02
  S5: we're talking about. His Son is Jesus Christ. Christ came
• 14:05
  S5: into the world. He died for our sins. He rose again.
• 14:08
  S5: He's poured out the Holy Spirit on all who believe.
• 14:10
  S5: He's coming back in power and glory. He's with us
• 14:13
  S5: in everything that we face. We trust God in what
• 14:17
  S5: he has revealed. Uh, we we believe him in what
• 14:20
  S5: he has revealed, and we trust him in what he's
• 14:24
  S5: kept secret. So what he's kept secret is what's going
• 14:26
  S5: to happen in my life today or your life today.
• 14:29
  S5: None of us knows what's going to happen today. We
• 14:31
  S5: don't understand why God allows painful things in our lives.
• 14:35
  S5: There are endless why questions that every true Christian lives with,
• 14:40
  S5: that every human being lives with. And for someone who
• 14:43
  S5: does not have faith. The unanswered question simply lead a
• 14:47
  S5: person to say, well, therefore I can't believe. But for
• 14:50
  S5: someone who has faith, the unanswered questions are the times
• 14:54
  S5: where we say, I have to trust God until the
• 14:58
  S5: day when faith is turned to sight, because I don't
• 15:01
  S5: understand this now. One day I will. And so I'm
• 15:04
  S5: going to believe him in in what he has revealed.
• 15:07
  S5: And I'm going to trust him in what he's kept secret.
• 15:11
  S3: Pastor Colin Smith with us this morning. You mentioned early
• 15:13
  S3: on our tendency to sometimes gravitate towards fads or the
• 15:18
  S3: latest thing. Give me an example of something that you've observed.
• 15:21
  S3: And do you think that that is maybe our grasping
• 15:25
  S3: for something new is an attempt to close that gap
• 15:28
  S3: between what we know and what God has not yet revealed?
• 15:32
  S5: Yes. I'll give you a pastor's personal answer to that.
• 15:35
  S5: I'm blessed to have a good library of books, and
• 15:39
  S5: all of the ones that are useless to me now
• 15:42
  S5: are things that were trendy in the 1980s.
• 15:46
  S2: So I've got those two.
• 15:48
  S5: Yeah. Well, you know, you look at stuff and and
• 15:51
  S5: you say that was a cultural moment that was passing
• 15:55
  S5: in the 1980s. Everybody was talking about this, whatever it was.
• 16:00
  S5: And actually, now people think entirely differently. And all of
• 16:03
  S5: that has passed away. And I should never have spent
• 16:06
  S5: money on that book, and I shouldn't have spent time
• 16:08
  S5: even reading it. What is timeless? There's far more of
• 16:13
  S5: that in my library, is that which God has revealed.
• 16:16
  S5: And that, Carl, is what you're calling us back to.
• 16:19
  S5: We got to focus on the core truths, not the
• 16:22
  S5: things that are here today and gone tomorrow.
• 16:24
  S2: You know, there's this phrase in here, Colin Smith, our
• 16:27
  S2: guest right now, and this not of your own doing. Now,
• 16:30
  S2: this is written to predominantly Gentiles. And what's fascinating is
• 16:34
  S2: I think we Gentiles can think, and we look at
• 16:37
  S2: the gospel accounts where Jesus is calling out the Pharisees
• 16:42
  S2: who were. Woe to you! They were whitewashed tombs. They were.
• 16:46
  S2: They were foisting things on people that they weren't doing themselves.
• 16:49
  S2: It was all external. It was what they could do.
• 16:52
  S2: But it strikes me that with the predominant Gentile audience,
• 16:56
  S2: he says, in this not of your own doing, this
• 16:59
  S2: is a universal problem. We think our doing can do something,
• 17:02
  S2: don't we call it?
• 17:03
  S5: Yeah. That's right. And, you know, one of the things
• 17:05
  S5: that's really striking to me is how Jesus gives commands
• 17:10
  S5: in the miracles in the Gospels. He gives commands that
• 17:13
  S5: are precisely things that people are not able to do.
• 17:17
  S5: So Mark tells us, for example, about a man who
• 17:21
  S5: had a withered hand. Presumably that was some kind of
• 17:24
  S5: paralysis in his arm. He simply couldn't move his hand.
• 17:28
  S5: What does Jesus say to him? He says, stretch forth
• 17:31
  S5: your hand. I mean, of all the things to say
• 17:35
  S5: to a man with a withered hand, that is obviously
• 17:37
  S5: the one thing he can't do. I mean, you get
• 17:39
  S5: the same thing with the man who's lying by the
• 17:41
  S5: pool of Bethesda. He's been there for 38 years. He can't.
• 17:45
  S5: He can't get himself into the water.
• 17:49
  S2: Fast enough to get the healing. Yeah.
• 17:51
  S5: Yeah. Jesus says to him, rise. Take up your bed
• 17:54
  S5: and walk. Well, that's obviously what he can't do. And yet,
• 17:57
  S5: in both of these cases, the miracle is that Jesus
• 18:01
  S5: imparts the power to do what he's telling the person
• 18:05
  S5: to do with with the command. And it seems to
• 18:09
  S5: me that that's what what gives us us hope in
• 18:12
  S5: the Christian life. We actually obey God's commands by believing
• 18:16
  S5: his promises. What that means for me is the more
• 18:19
  S5: I believe God's commands today, the more I'm sorry, the
• 18:23
  S5: more I believe God's promises today, the more I'm actually
• 18:26
  S5: going to obey his commands.
• 18:27
  S3: Oh, I love that example. I've never heard it quite
• 18:30
  S3: put like that, because I don't think we view the
• 18:34
  S3: the two miracles that you just referenced in the same
• 18:36
  S3: ways that we do the command, the miracle of us
• 18:39
  S3: being able to obey God, that he gives us a
• 18:41
  S3: command and then gives us the grace to be able
• 18:44
  S3: to obey. Take up our mat and walk, so to speak.
• 18:48
  S2: Well, time out there, Allie. Here's your. I'm so glad
• 18:50
  S2: you featured this, because I think our supposition is that
• 18:55
  S2: there is something in our doing. Yes, but those two
• 18:58
  S2: miracles totally dispel that myth. It's almost not politically correct
• 19:03
  S2: what he did there. You know what I mean. It's wild.
• 19:07
  S5: Here's another story that that goes to the motivation of
• 19:10
  S5: of God's marvelous promises. A great story in the Old
• 19:12
  S5: Testament about this man, Naaman, who was a distinguished general
• 19:17
  S5: of the Syrian army, and he had leprosy. And he
• 19:21
  S5: comes to Elijah and Elisha says, go wash in the
• 19:24
  S5: river Jordan seven times, and you will be clean. Now, actually,
• 19:27
  S5: there's a command and there's a promise there. Go. Here's
• 19:31
  S5: the command. Go. Go and wash seven times. There's a promise.
• 19:34
  S5: You shall be clean. The guy heard the command. He
• 19:38
  S5: didn't really hear the promise. Somehow the promise got lost
• 19:41
  S5: in the command. And so he's angry, and he's going
• 19:44
  S5: to go back home until his servant says to him, no,
• 19:48
  S5: this was a great word. The prophet spoke to you.
• 19:52
  S5: Will you not do it? Did he not say to you, wash,
• 19:55
  S5: and you shall be clean? And so Naaman thinks again,
• 20:00
  S5: I've heard the command. I don't like the command. I
• 20:02
  S5: don't want to do the command, but my servants telling
• 20:05
  S5: me the promise. And I do want the promise. And
• 20:08
  S5: so when he believes the promise, what does he do?
• 20:11
  S5: He goes and obeys the command. He goes and washes
• 20:13
  S5: seven times in the Jordan, and behold, he is clean.
• 20:16
  S5: So actually, I think the great motivation for obeying God's
• 20:20
  S5: commands in life is that we believe his promises, and
• 20:24
  S5: that when we believe his promises, we will obey his commands.
• 20:27
  S3: Oh that's incredible. You know, for some reason, I'm thinking
• 20:31
  S3: of a little song that my kids learned in Sunday
• 20:33
  S3: school when they were young, and they would come home
• 20:35
  S3: and they would sing it, read your Bible and pray
• 20:38
  S3: every day. Pray every day and you'll grow, grow, grow.
• 20:41
  S3: And I can still picture. They would do this little
• 20:43
  S3: hand motion where each time they said grow, their hand
• 20:45
  S3: would move up a little bit higher. You'll grow, grow, grow,
• 20:48
  S3: and the hands almost up in the air. But we go,
• 20:51
  S3: can it be that simple? Like I read my Bible
• 20:54
  S3: and pray and I'll grow. I mean, I don't, I
• 20:57
  S3: don't feel like I'm growing. And so I try it
• 20:59
  S3: for two days and then people fall off the wagon
• 21:01
  S3: with Bible reading plans because it doesn't feel like anything
• 21:03
  S3: miraculous is happening.
• 21:05
  S2: But those are core truths.
• 21:06
  S3: And yet we stop short of the promise because. Because
• 21:09
  S3: it doesn't really feel miraculous. Speak to that.
• 21:13
  S5: Yeah, I think that's right. I mean, what you're identifying,
• 21:15
  S5: I think is really important, that it's possible simply to
• 21:20
  S5: think about praying and Bible reading as a sort of
• 21:23
  S5: religious work. And if I do these things, I'm sort
• 21:26
  S5: of pressing button A and so forth. And, and good
• 21:30
  S5: things are going to happen. And, and actually the reality
• 21:34
  S5: is that God's Spirit works in and through the word
• 21:39
  S5: coming to us and it being embedded in our lives
• 21:42
  S5: and shaping our thinking and renewing our hearts, and that
• 21:46
  S5: we are strengthened by responding to that word in prayer,
• 21:50
  S5: prompted by the spirit back to God. And I think therefore, um,
• 21:54
  S5: it's a, it's a little bit like someone saying, if
• 21:57
  S5: you want to have a loving marriage, here are five
• 21:59
  S5: things you should do. And the guy says, oh, I'm
• 22:01
  S5: going to do the five things, but somehow misses the
• 22:04
  S5: heart of what the five things are actually all about.
• 22:07
  S2: Yeah. This is so good. Colin Smith. Guys, I gotta
• 22:11
  S2: tell you, this is meat. This is so much fun
• 22:14
  S2: to talk about core truths. My goodness. And Colin is
• 22:19
  S2: a man who is being used so mightily of the Lord.
• 22:22
  S2: And you want some content, some of your listening to
• 22:24
  S2: Colin maybe for the first time or just striking you today.
• 22:28
  S2: My goodness, this is some content. You can hear him
• 22:31
  S2: weekdays here on Moody Radio, wherever you're listening, even on
• 22:35
  S2: the app. But we got a link for you, don't we, Ali?
• 22:38
  S3: Yeah. The program is called Open the Bible. So just
• 22:40
  S3: text open to 805 557898. You'll get to his website.
• 22:46
  S3: He's written extensively. You can listen to the radio programs,
• 22:49
  S3: little snippets there. Just text open to 805, five, five, 78, 98.
• 22:56
  S1: Get to know the team behind the scenes. Follow Carl
• 22:59
  S1: and crew on Facebook and Instagram.
• 23:01
  S2: So we're asking you question, what is it, Ali?
• 23:04
  S3: Yeah. What is that core truth that God is using
• 23:06
  S3: most in your life right now may not be something
• 23:09
  S3: that you just learned yesterday, but it's something that boy,
• 23:13
  S3: it's hitting you in a different way. It's a core
• 23:15
  S3: truth that's most impacting you right now. 800 555, 78,
• 23:19
  S3: 98 Suzanne's calling in this morning from Cape Coral, Florida.
• 23:23
  S3: Go ahead, Suzanne, tell us what that core truth is
• 23:25
  S3: for you.
• 23:26
  S6: Hi. Thanks so much for taking my call. Um, my
• 23:29
  S6: core truth that has really been impacting my life is the,
• 23:34
  S6: Be the phrase be still and know that I am God.
• 23:38
  S6: And this has given me so much freedom to sit back.
• 23:42
  S6: Let him author my life because he is the author
• 23:46
  S6: author of the Book of Life. I have handed the
• 23:49
  S6: pen over to him and no matter what happens to me,
• 23:53
  S6: I know that he is sovereign over all of it.
• 23:55
  S6: I was given a very devastating diagnosis in November of
• 24:00
  S6: stage four metastatic prostatic cancer. It's okay. God is healing me.
• 24:05
  S6: I have already seen a 50% reduction in the tumors
• 24:09
  S6: in my body. So God, he has shown me multiple times.
• 24:14
  S6: He has said to me, I will heal you, and
• 24:16
  S6: I am trusting him, and I am believing him, and
• 24:19
  S6: I am praising him for what he's already done. And
• 24:22
  S6: I'm just being still and knowing that he is God.
• 24:26
  S2: What a great place to be. I'm going to. I'm
• 24:27
  S2: going to pray for you, Suzanne. Right now, let's lock
• 24:30
  S2: hearts around our sister. Father, in the name of Jesus,
• 24:33
  S2: We agree. Would you heal our sister? Heal her up completely.
• 24:39
  S2: And Lord, what a joy that she can. As we
• 24:41
  S2: find in Psalm I think 46, we can. We can
• 24:47
  S2: be still and know that you are God. And what
• 24:52
  S2: a great thing that we have been saved from ourselves
• 24:56
  S2: so we can trust you, our creator, our designer, the
• 25:00
  S2: maker of heaven and earth, the Alpha and Omega, the
• 25:04
  S2: King of Kings, the Lord of lords, the God of
• 25:07
  S2: the empty tomb, the God of eternity who is building
• 25:11
  S2: a new home for us. And so, Lord, we just
• 25:15
  S2: thank you for the stillness that we can trust you. Uh,
• 25:19
  S2: we don't have to wring our hands. I thank you
• 25:20
  S2: for Suzanne that she's not wringing her hands. And I
• 25:24
  S2: pray in Jesus name. You would heal Suzanne. Heal her up, Lord, completely.
• 25:29
  S2: We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you so much, sister,
• 25:33
  S2: for calling in. What a great core truth.
• 25:36
  S3: Fantastic. Let's go back to the phones. We've got Jim
• 25:38
  S3: calling in this morning from Winter Haven, Florida. Jim, what's
• 25:41
  S3: that core truth that God is using most in your
• 25:43
  S3: life right now?
• 25:44
  S7: Yeah. Good morning. 40 years ago, I was reading Bill
• 25:47
  S7: Blackaby Is Experiencing God. The only thing I remember from
• 25:50
  S7: the whole study was in the introduction when he said
• 25:54
  S7: one line, I was created by God for God, and
• 25:58
  S7: for 40 years it has shaped my life because I
• 26:01
  S7: understood from that point that my life is not my own,
• 26:05
  S7: that I had to live for the one who created
• 26:07
  S7: me and not make my own plans, but seek his
• 26:10
  S7: plan for me. Isn't that shaped my my life for
• 26:13
  S7: 40 years? One line.
• 26:15
  S2: Jim, I'm. I'm blown away by that. That is one
• 26:18
  S2: phrase that truly can guide every decision, every step we take.
• 26:25
  S2: That's so cool, Jim, that that has guided you for
• 26:28
  S2: four decades, my man.
• 26:30
  S7: It's led me into many avenues of ministry, understanding that
• 26:36
  S7: I live for him.
• 26:37
  S2: Yeah.
• 26:38
  S7: Not myself.
• 26:39
  S2: You're rocking it, Jim. Boom. Brother. Thanks for calling in.
• 26:42
  S2: That's why we call you the boom crew. Okay, we
• 26:44
  S2: got time to get in. More calls here. I light
• 26:46
  S2: em up, guys. This is low hanging fruit, right, Ali?
• 26:49
  S3: It really is. We want to hear from you. What's
• 26:51
  S3: that core truth God is using most in your life
• 26:54
  S3: right now? 800 555, 78, 98.
• 26:58
  S2: Let's go back the phone lines. Who do we have?
• 26:59
  S3: Alex Shelley calling in this morning from Bradenton, Florida. Shelley,
• 27:03
  S3: what's that core truth for you?
• 27:05
  S8: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
• 27:09
  S8: I have had a problem with anxiety and depression. And so, um,
• 27:17
  S8: it has really kept me going and, um, just changed
• 27:23
  S8: my life because I used scripture to overcome the enemy
• 27:28
  S8: when he tries to use the anxiety and depression to
• 27:32
  S8: overcome me.
• 27:33
  S2: Amen. Well, well, first off, let me confirm what you're doing.
• 27:36
  S2: That's spot on. 70 times in the New Testament, we
• 27:39
  S2: find the word rhema, which is the spoken word of God.
• 27:43
  S2: So wield that sword. Way to go. That's awesome. Shelly.
• 27:47
  S2: And you're also applying Philippians 413 rightly, because oftentimes this
• 27:53
  S2: is the touchdown Jesus passage. I can do all things
• 27:57
  S2: through him who strengthens me. But we back up one
• 28:01
  S2: verse and this is what Paul says. I know how
• 28:04
  S2: to be brought low, and I know how to abound
• 28:07
  S2: in any and every circumstance. I have learned the secret
• 28:12
  S2: of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. Way to go, Shelly.
• 28:19
  S2: That's good application of that truth. Because a planet, even
• 28:23
  S2: through those difficulties, that's often where we don't find. Philippians
• 28:27
  S2: 413 applied. But she's nailing.
• 28:29
  S3: It. Very true, very true.
• 28:31
  S2: Let's go back. Phone lines. Who do we.
• 28:32
  S3: Have? Neal. First time caller from Muscatine, Iowa. Go ahead.
• 28:35
  S3: Tell us what core truth is God using most in
• 28:37
  S3: your life right now?
• 28:39
  S9: Two things. Jesus came to bridge the gap between mankind
• 28:44
  S9: and God so that we would have direct access to him.
• 28:47
  S9: And two, he came to show us how to love
• 28:50
  S9: our neighbors so nobody can tell you that they don't
• 28:54
  S9: know how to. We just have to follow his example.
• 28:58
  S2: Yeah. I mean, he put it on display. And it's
• 29:00
  S2: part of the great commandment, isn't it? That's dynamite. Neal.
• 29:03
  S2: First time caller from Iowa. Boom, brother. Those kind of.
• 29:07
  S2: These are good core truths.
• 29:09
  S3: Ali, let's go back to the phones. Julie. Grand Rapids, Michigan.
• 29:12
  S3: Tell us, what's that core truth God's using most in
• 29:14
  S3: your life?
• 29:15
  S10: Genesis three, where we read that God created man in
• 29:19
  S10: his own image. And Adam, of course, Beth in his
• 29:23
  S10: own likeness, recognizing that God is our creator and that
• 29:27
  S10: we are born in sin. Um, brings me back to
• 29:31
  S10: the point that I always need God. I am not
• 29:34
  S10: good without God.
• 29:35
  S2: Yeah. That's awesome. You know that that created in the
• 29:38
  S2: image of God is a powerful passage and it explains
• 29:42
  S2: a lot. It explains why lost people can pop off
• 29:45
  S2: with some good stuff from time to time. Although we're
• 29:48
  S2: not regenerate, there is a reflection of God in mankind
• 29:53
  S2: that he created. Uh, it's, it's a power that's a
• 29:57
  S2: powerful truth. And I want to illustrate it for you
• 30:00
  S2: in a unique way. I was I haven't told this
• 30:03
  S2: story in a long, long time, but I was near
• 30:07
  S2: Mount McKinley in Alaska. And this this thing, a little
• 30:11
  S2: over 20,000ft. I mean, it's a behemoth. We had driven
• 30:16
  S2: in all the way to the end of the road
• 30:18
  S2: back in the day. And this is back when you
• 30:20
  S2: could drive in there and it was gravel roads. I
• 30:21
  S2: was a kid, for crying out loud. Now it's a
• 30:24
  S2: super highway and you got to have passes and all
• 30:26
  S2: kinds of stuff. everything changes. So we went all the
• 30:28
  S2: way into Wonder Lake pitch tents, camp. I got up
• 30:31
  S2: early in the morning, me and a buddy, we went
• 30:34
  S2: down to Wonder Lake and there weren't any fish biting,
• 30:36
  S2: so we said, let's go for a walk. We walked
• 30:38
  S2: through tall grass right toward Mount McKinley and it was
• 30:42
  S2: beautiful alley. It was so gorgeous that morning and as
• 30:45
  S2: we walked, we were making noise because we didn't want to.
• 30:49
  S2: You don't want to scare bears. You want to let
• 30:51
  S2: them know you're on the way. So we're making racket
• 30:54
  S2: walking through tall grass. If our parents would have known
• 30:58
  S2: we were out there doing that, they probably wouldn't have
• 31:00
  S2: been real keen on that.
• 31:01
  S3: Maybe not.
• 31:02
  S2: So we're walking along and smacking our tackle boxes and
• 31:06
  S2: poles against anything that could make some noise. And and
• 31:10
  S2: just as we were walking along, all of a sudden
• 31:14
  S2: I had to take a big step because I stepped
• 31:15
  S2: over this narrow creek that was cutting out of bedrock
• 31:19
  S2: coming out of Mount McKinley. And we knew enough about
• 31:23
  S2: what's going on there that there might be some grailing,
• 31:25
  S2: some big dorsal fin, beautiful fish. And we dropped dry
• 31:30
  S2: flies on top of this creek straddling it. And we
• 31:33
  S2: were doing catch and release because these grayling, sure enough,
• 31:35
  S2: were there. And it was just it was one of
• 31:37
  S2: these iconic moments in my life. It's just beautiful. Well,
• 31:43
  S2: we got done fishing it for an hour or two.
• 31:45
  S2: Just a narrow, narrow little stream. You could step over it.
• 31:49
  S2: We got up to leave and I looked down and
• 31:53
  S2: I could not believe it. All 20 plus thousand square
• 31:56
  S2: feet of Mount McKinley was reflected back in that little
• 31:59
  S2: two foot stream.
• 32:00
  S4: Wow.
• 32:01
  S2: And I even had presence of mind to tell my
• 32:04
  S2: buddy Calvin Calvin look. And we both knelt down and
• 32:07
  S2: we could not believe our eyes. Here's 20,000ft² reflected in
• 32:11
  S2: this little dinky stream. And that's a great picture of
• 32:16
  S2: how we are image bearers of God. Oh, insignificant people,
• 32:21
  S2: small relative to the world around us. But there's an
• 32:25
  S2: imprint of God's hand in creation on our lives. It's
• 32:31
  S2: a beautiful picture of how we are image bearers, and
• 32:34
  S2: it's one. It's a core truth to hang on to.
• 32:36
  S2: It truly is. Howard. Really quick, man, we got 30s.
• 32:40
  S2: What do you say?
• 32:42
  S11: Uh, Romans 838 for I am persuaded that neither death,
• 32:47
  S11: nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
• 32:51
  S11: nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any
• 32:55
  S11: other creature, shall be able to separate us from the
• 32:59
  S11: love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• 33:02
  S2: Yeah. Boy, that's powerhouse boom, brother calling in driving in Lakeland, Florida.
• 33:07
  S2: Thank you for calling in, Howard. Whoo! That's rich, isn't it, Ali?
• 33:12
  S3: Nothing can separate us from the love of God.
• 33:14
  S4: Nothing.
• 33:15
  S3: You can never hear that too much.
• 33:17
  S2: What's your core truth? Boom! Crew. What are you holding
• 33:20
  S2: on to today? Don't let it go. Man, that can
• 33:23
  S2: be the fuel for your steps running this race of
• 33:29
  S2: faith today. Hold on to him.
• 33:32
  S1: Standing on the rock each and every day. You're listening
• 33:36
  S1: to Carl and Crew.
• 33:38
  S2: Well, there's no lack, Ali. When I go out into
• 33:42
  S2: the wild of the internet and all things digital, to
• 33:47
  S2: look for people who are promising joy or happiness. It's everywhere.
• 33:53
  S2: If you lose this amount of weight, if you stay
• 33:55
  S2: in this kind of shape. And now I'm getting all
• 33:57
  S2: these videos for how old guys can keep their joy
• 34:01
  S2: by keeping body fat down and energy up. Ali.
• 34:06
  S3: Yeah. Every product ad that you see is in some
• 34:09
  S3: way promising joy related to whatever they whatever specific thing
• 34:13
  S3: that they can do for you. Well, that's the thing
• 34:15
  S3: that's going to bring you joy. Don't you know, we
• 34:18
  S3: have a special guest with us this morning who's going
• 34:20
  S3: to speak about joy and what are the habits of
• 34:22
  S3: joy filled people? Chris Coursey is an ordained minister, pastoral counselor.
• 34:26
  S3: He's an author and speaker. He's written the Four Habits
• 34:30
  S3: of Joy Filled people. Those products, those advertisements, they're everywhere.
• 34:35
  S3: And they promise something that we are clearly lacking. But
• 34:40
  S3: can they deliver on the promise? Speak to that.
• 34:42
  S12: These things at some level can deliver kind of partial.
• 34:46
  S12: It's kind of like having a bite of a meal,
• 34:49
  S12: but that's all you get. There's more. And God designed
• 34:53
  S12: us for just authentic glad to be together, joy. And these,
• 34:56
  S12: these things only deliver partially. We actually need more. Those
• 34:59
  S12: are a taster, but it doesn't sustain our joy. We
• 35:03
  S12: need something that's going to stick with us, that we
• 35:05
  S12: can hold on to and carry with us in all
• 35:07
  S12: of our relationships, especially with the living God.
• 35:11
  S2: Chris Coursey, our guest right now, Chris, if we look
• 35:14
  S2: at Ephesians, we find that, uh, it's a call to
• 35:18
  S2: joy to continue in that great love, that richness of faith.
• 35:22
  S2: And then we go to Galatians and we find that
• 35:25
  S2: there is this thing called the fruit of the spirit,
• 35:28
  S2: and there is love, joy. Second on the list for
• 35:32
  S2: the apostle Paul is joy. And that joy. There's a
• 35:37
  S2: river that runs through that that transcends circumstances. And I
• 35:42
  S2: think sometimes we undersell the potential for joy. And we
• 35:49
  S2: also think that it's mutually exclusive of challenges that we
• 35:53
  S2: go through in our day. What do you say to this, Chris?
• 35:56
  S12: Yeah, you know what? You're exactly right. We now know
• 35:59
  S12: that joy is not just the icing on the cake.
• 36:02
  S12: Joy is the entire meal, right? So how God designed
• 36:07
  S12: our brain to run is actually on the fuel of
• 36:09
  S12: glad to be together joy. So we know that joy
• 36:11
  S12: is accessible. Joy is really what changes our character more
• 36:16
  S12: than anything else. Joy is a relational exchange where we
• 36:20
  S12: feel like someone's genuinely glad to be with us. And
• 36:23
  S12: we have Jesus who is genuinely glad to be with
• 36:28
  S12: his sheep. And we have a shepherd who's glad to
• 36:30
  S12: be with us. And this changes it at the end
• 36:33
  S12: of the day, really, what we want in our relationships
• 36:35
  S12: is joy. We want people who enjoy our presence, who
• 36:38
  S12: light up when they see us, right? And we light
• 36:41
  S12: up to see them. That's how your brain registers joy.
• 36:44
  S12: It's not the words, it's the look on a face
• 36:47
  S12: and the sound of a voice.
• 36:49
  S3: We've got Chris Coursey with us. I just did a
• 36:51
  S3: little search, and I want to tell you what AI
• 36:55
  S3: has compiled as the components of a joy filled life.
• 36:59
  S3: And I want to want you to comment on whether
• 37:01
  S3: you agree or disagree. So according to this AI overview,
• 37:06
  S3: seek spiritual connection, practice gratitude, set boundaries and appreciate the
• 37:13
  S3: simple things. Agreement. Where do you agree? Where do you disagree?
• 37:17
  S12: Well, I agree in some way that these things definitely
• 37:21
  S12: set the conditions for joy. But joy is actually relational.
• 37:24
  S12: So joy is when we're sitting across from someone where
• 37:28
  S12: we see it on their face, we hear it in
• 37:30
  S12: their voice. Even how they move their body can convey
• 37:32
  S12: to our brain they're glad to be with us. So appreciation, gratitude,
• 37:36
  S12: these things keep the flames of joy alive. So when
• 37:39
  S12: we remember the good stuff and we reflect on God's gifts,
• 37:43
  S12: it's actually the reality that we have a God who's
• 37:46
  S12: glad to be with us. And that's what really gets
• 37:49
  S12: joy going and gets those flames going and really changes
• 37:52
  S12: our life. So I'd say, yeah, those are all good ingredients.
• 37:55
  S12: Let's do it. At the end of the day, joy
• 37:57
  S12: is a relationship. And Jesus prayed for his disciples to
• 38:01
  S12: have his joy. And there is a reason he specifically
• 38:04
  S12: prayed for his joy, because that's really what changes us
• 38:07
  S12: from the inside out.
• 38:09
  S2: You know, you keep going back to this relational component,
• 38:12
  S2: and I've been recently really convicted by the reality that
• 38:18
  S2: this isn't news to anyone. But when we preach or
• 38:21
  S2: teach or mentor people or people go to the Word
• 38:24
  S2: of God or any resources, they're really looking at it
• 38:28
  S2: from a perspective of what does God have for me?
• 38:32
  S2: And when you go around the globe, you see brothers
• 38:35
  S2: and sisters, I've been in India recently. I've been in
• 38:38
  S2: Africa recently, I've been all around the globe. And I
• 38:42
  S2: notice there's a way more collective. We're together in this
• 38:48
  S2: and you keep dragging us back to. We need to
• 38:51
  S2: see smiles on faces. We need to have someone that
• 38:53
  S2: knows us and we know them. We're missing a big chunk,
• 38:57
  S2: aren't we, Chris? When we leave out the broader body
• 39:00
  S2: of Christ in even our joy that we experience in
• 39:03
  S2: what we can give to others.
• 39:05
  S12: You are exactly right. When we experience glad to be
• 39:10
  S12: together joy. It's like walking into a church and there's
• 39:12
  S12: someone who holds the door, what's on their face when
• 39:15
  S12: they see us. Hopefully it's going to be somebody glad
• 39:18
  S12: to be with us. And God actually designed our brain
• 39:20
  S12: to register joy as we are the sparkle in someone
• 39:23
  S12: else's eyes. And so it really is the relational part.
• 39:27
  S12: Happiness is circumstantial. I'm happy because I watched a new
• 39:31
  S12: movie at the theater. Joy is. I shared the experience
• 39:34
  S12: with my wife. Right. We connected while we were doing this.
• 39:38
  S12: That's the joy piece. And you're exactly right. It's really
• 39:41
  S12: one of the most important facets of joy, but it's
• 39:44
  S12: what's tend to be missing in our world, especially with
• 39:47
  S12: all the technological changes that we see in our world.
• 39:50
  S12: With screens, we need more than a screen. We need
• 39:53
  S12: another face across from us that we can see and
• 39:56
  S12: hear and connect with. That's joy and the sense that
• 40:00
  S12: we have a God who's glad to be with us.
• 40:02
  S12: That's joy. He is with us, but he's glad to
• 40:05
  S12: be with us. Not angry, not disgusted. He's glad to
• 40:08
  S12: be with us.
• 40:09
  S4: Yeah.
• 40:09
  S3: You know that. Glad to be with us, Joy, and
• 40:12
  S3: that God is glad to be with us. I don't
• 40:14
  S3: know that we always think of him like that. I mean,
• 40:16
  S3: you hear people say things like, well, you know, I
• 40:19
  S3: don't want to. I know God's really busy. I don't
• 40:21
  S3: want to bother him with this one. Like, I'll go
• 40:23
  S3: to him with the big stuff. Or you mentioned that
• 40:26
  S3: we can view him as angry as. Or like, maybe
• 40:29
  S3: we had a parent who, when we needed something, they
• 40:33
  S3: didn't seem to want to be bothered. Like maybe they
• 40:35
  S3: would give it to us, but it certainly wasn't. Joyfully so,
• 40:38
  S3: we can have some things modeled for us that can
• 40:40
  S3: cause us to misunderstand the very nature of God. How
• 40:43
  S3: much can that misunderstanding rob us of joy? Because we
• 40:47
  S3: don't think God wants to be with us.
• 40:49
  S12: So many of us really have a hard time and
• 40:51
  S12: struggle with feeling like God is genuinely glad to be
• 40:55
  S12: with us. He wants to be with us. I grew
• 40:57
  S12: up feeling God was always angry at me. And of
• 40:59
  S12: course some of that was my own family pain. And
• 41:02
  S12: I'll never forget the day where I really felt in
• 41:06
  S12: prayer that Jesus was genuinely glad to be with me.
• 41:09
  S12: It changed everything. It changed everything.
• 41:12
  S2: You know, we actually had on Doctor Erwin Lutzer here
• 41:16
  S2: just in the last day or two. And he talked
• 41:18
  S2: about the essence of really having a relationship with God
• 41:23
  S2: is that you have this love for Jesus. And when
• 41:27
  S2: we say those words, it almost is a disconnect. We
• 41:31
  S2: know what loving feelings look like when we speak. For me,
• 41:36
  S2: first time I saw my wife on a college campus
• 41:39
  S2: and I'm like, I love her calves. I love everything
• 41:41
  S2: about her. I'm being real honest here. But there was
• 41:44
  S2: this squiggly, weird little thing in my heart going on.
• 41:49
  S2: I have experienced that with the Lord Jesus Christ. It's different.
• 41:54
  S2: It's way deeper. It's richer, but it's akin to it.
• 41:58
  S2: But for years it was very elusive for me. I
• 42:01
  S2: had a very distant relationship with God, and that changed
• 42:07
  S2: when I went through crises. How much of this Chris
• 42:12
  S2: is born when the chips are down, when things are
• 42:15
  S2: not going well. I feel like joy is born out
• 42:18
  S2: of adversity more than it is mountaintops. What do you think, brother?
• 42:23
  S12: You know, you're exactly right. And that's true for my
• 42:25
  S12: own life. The lowest times in my life actually is
• 42:29
  S12: where I encountered not only God's faithful presence, but his
• 42:33
  S12: joyful presence.
• 42:34
  S2: Chris, do you mind going a little bit deeper with that?
• 42:37
  S2: You spoke of upbringing and some things there's we're scratching
• 42:41
  S2: at the tip of some pain there. Could you share
• 42:44
  S2: that a little bit with us?
• 42:45
  S12: To be honest, you know, I grew up going to church,
• 42:48
  S12: but when I became a teenager, I just did what
• 42:51
  S12: my friends who didn't go to church did. I followed
• 42:53
  S12: them until I got into college, and I was kind
• 42:56
  S12: of doing what was right in my own eyes, which
• 42:58
  S12: I don't recommend. That's not good in the Bible. So
• 43:01
  S12: it was when I got two DUIs in college and
• 43:03
  S12: I thought, my life is over, I'm done. I don't
• 43:06
  S12: even know how I'm going to, like, get out of
• 43:07
  S12: bed the next day. And that's actually precisely where I
• 43:11
  S12: encountered Jesus in this lowest of low places. Literally, when
• 43:15
  S12: I walked out of the jail after my friends bailed
• 43:17
  S12: me out, I prayed and I yelled to the sky
• 43:20
  S12: and I was like, Lord, where are you? What do
• 43:22
  S12: you want from me? And in my mind, I had
• 43:24
  S12: a sense of Jesus standing right there with me, with
• 43:26
  S12: his arms out saying, Chris, why are you running from me?
• 43:29
  S12: Why are you fighting me? All I want is to
• 43:31
  S12: be with you. Wow, that changed me.
• 43:34
  S2: Now that's a story. Ali, when you hear that, what
• 43:37
  S2: do you think?
• 43:38
  S3: I mean, so many people can relate to that because
• 43:41
  S3: you can feel like. How would God want to be
• 43:44
  S3: with me, with my past, with my. You know, I've
• 43:47
  S3: messed it up so many times. And we can create
• 43:50
  S3: that distance because we see ourselves, we can't see ourselves
• 43:54
  S3: any other way, but messed up, broken, dirty, shameful. And
• 43:59
  S3: so you're painting a picture of what it looks like
• 44:02
  S3: to be welcomed in by a God who knows us
• 44:06
  S3: on our very worst days, and the moments that we
• 44:08
  S3: don't want anybody else to see us and yet loves
• 44:10
  S3: us still.
• 44:11
  S12: Yeah. You know, you captured it well. I was shocked
• 44:14
  S12: that Jesus would actually want to be with me. I
• 44:17
  S12: was running from him. I was not being a good person.
• 44:20
  S12: I was selfish, self-centered. And that's that's where he met me.
• 44:25
  S12: And I have to say, that lit a fire in me.
• 44:27
  S12: I dove into his word. I dedicated my life to
• 44:31
  S12: Jesus right then and there. When I encountered his closeness
• 44:34
  S12: in a place where I thought he wouldn't want to
• 44:36
  S12: be with me.
• 44:37
  S2: So I have a contention here, and Ali probably knows
• 44:40
  S2: where I'm going to go. My conviction and contention is
• 44:44
  S2: that Chris Coursey was probably actually born again on that day,
• 44:48
  S2: and you were churchianity up to that point. What do
• 44:51
  S2: you say, Chris?
• 44:52
  S12: Yeah, you're exactly right. I knew all the right things.
• 44:56
  S12: I had I had all the good information, but what
• 44:58
  S12: was missing was the relationship, right? The relationship is what
• 45:02
  S12: was missing.
• 45:03
  S4: Wow.
• 45:04
  S3: Chris Coursey with us right now. If you want more
• 45:07
  S3: on this great resource, just text Chris to 800 805 557898.
• 45:13
  S3: Text Chris to 805 557898.
• 45:18
  S1: Tune in whenever you like. Check out the Carl and
• 45:20
  S1: Crew podcast wherever you like to stream.
• 45:24
  S2: Okay. It's bottom of the hour here on a Wednesday.
• 45:28
  S2: And we got some good news for you. Yeah, it's
• 45:31
  S2: that time.
• 45:32
  S1: Making herself laugh. No matter who joins her, it's time for.
• 45:36
  S1: Ali thinks it's funny.
• 45:39
  S3: Emphasis on the no matter who joins her. Because even
• 45:43
  S3: if I'm laughing alone, I will continue to tell my jokes.
• 45:47
  S4: You will? Yes you will.
• 45:49
  S3: Well, you know, I had a little bit of a
• 45:51
  S3: side hustle going.
• 45:53
  S2: Okay.
• 45:54
  S3: Really? Yeah. Just, you know, part time working evenings at
• 45:58
  S3: a helium factory.
• 46:00
  S13: Oh, boy.
• 46:02
  S4: Now that's funny.
• 46:05
  S3: A helium factory. But I recently, sadly had to resign
• 46:09
  S3: my position.
• 46:10
  S2: Okay.
• 46:11
  S3: Decided I will not be spoken to in that tone
• 46:14
  S3: of voice.
• 46:16
  S4: Good. Good. Great.
• 46:19
  S14: Oh. Oh. Oh! I'm gonna have a stomach ache today. Oh, okay.
• 46:26
  S14: That is.
• 46:30
  S4: I wish you would have done it in that squeaky.
• 46:32
  S14: Oh, no.
• 46:33
  S4: If I could.
• 46:34
  S14: If I could, I would, but, you know. Oh.
• 46:37
  S3: Next up, I usually give you two. So we have
• 46:41
  S3: a little conversation. What did the crude oil say to
• 46:45
  S3: the gasoline? The conversation between crude oil and gasoline.
• 46:51
  S4: I have no idea.
• 46:52
  S3: Well, don't you look refined?
• 47:00
  S4: Oh my God.
• 47:02
  S14: That's great.
• 47:03
  S3: Tax jokes to 805 5578, 898 text jokes to 805 five.
• 47:11
  S4: 57898 Girls Crying.
• 47:16
  S2: I love those crying. Oh, those are great. Oh text jokes.
• 47:24
  S2: 028 hundred 5557898.
• 47:29
  S4: The music is.
• 47:30
  S2: Spoken to.
• 47:31
  S3: So refined.
• 47:32
  S2: In that tone of voice.
• 47:34
  S3: That was your favorite one.
• 47:35
  S2: Oh, no. I love them both. Oh, don't you look
• 47:39
  S2: so refined.
• 47:40
  S4: I feel like we're in an elegant.
• 47:42
  S2: Oh, we are.
• 47:43
  S4: Cotillion or something. Yeah, it's just so like Brent.
• 47:47
  S2: Brent crude can't come in. Oh. Oh my goodness.
• 47:53
  S3: Oh man.
• 47:55
  S2: Those. I don't know why. I don't know why today
• 47:57
  S2: but I have got a I've got not an upset stomach.
• 48:00
  S2: I got a sore tummy. That was great. Text jokes
• 48:02
  S2: to 805 557898. And we got some new neighbors moving in.
• 48:07
  S2: New to us.
• 48:08
  S3: Here. You do?
• 48:09
  S2: I'm going to. I'm going to do what I prescribed
• 48:11
  S2: to people.
• 48:11
  S3: Oh, no.
• 48:12
  S2: It's a great icebreaker. Just go across to your neighbors.
• 48:14
  S3: Yeah.
• 48:15
  S2: I'm going to say, hey, I got a couple jokes
• 48:17
  S2: for you. My co-host shared on air.
• 48:20
  S3: I was like, what kind of.
• 48:21
  S2: Show.
• 48:21
  S3: Are you hosting? Right.
• 48:23
  S15: What do you do?
• 48:24
  S2: Can you imagine sitting there with the neighbor? I think
• 48:27
  S2: I'm gonna do it just to pressure test it and
• 48:28
  S2: see how it works. Yeah, I think I'm gonna do it. Hey,
• 48:31
  S2: I got a couple jokes for you that Ali shares.
• 48:33
  S3: Yeah, go for it. Give it a try. Yeah.
• 48:35
  S13: Oh, that is great.
• 48:38
  S2: Ali thinks it's funny. Grab your jokes. Text jokes to
• 48:41
  S2: 800 555, 78, 98. You do not want to miss
• 48:45
  S2: these hilarious man. Hey, this is Carl with Carl and crew,
• 48:51
  S2: and I'm so grateful that you listened to this show cast.
• 48:54
  S2: Thank you mostly for being part of the boom crew
• 48:56
  S2: as we help you take your next step with Jesus,
• 48:59
  S2: you're a huge encouragement to us. We'll be here again
• 49:02
  S2: live every weekday morning from 5 to 9 a.m.. Godspeed.